Glossary · Institutions & Instruments
ADOR Tax Policy
In short
The ADOR office that answers written questions on how the law applies. Written answers carry protection that phone calls do not.
In full
Every ADOR contracting page ends by directing questions to Tax Policy. Submitting in writing and getting an answer in writing is the point: written advice from the Department carries consequences if it turns out to be wrong, and oral advice does not bind the Department at all.
AskTaxPolicy@azdor.gov handles written policy clarifications; AZTaxHelp@azdor.gov handles general assistance. A written answer that is not a formal ruling is an information letter.
Under A.R.S. § 42-2052, no interest or penalty may be assessed on a deficiency directly attributable to erroneous written advice furnished by a Department employee acting in an official capacity in response to a specific request — provided the deficiency did not arise from the taxpayer's failure to supply adequate or accurate information. The same section requires Department employees to state, whenever they give oral advice, that the Department is not bound by it.
ADOR's automated acknowledgment states a response time of 25 business days for Transaction Privilege Tax questions, handled first in first out, and warns that replies arrive by secure email and may be filtered as spam. The acknowledgment is not published on ADOR's site; writing to the address reproduces it.
A.R.S. § 42-2052; ADOR contracting pages, contact listings; ADOR Tax Policy acknowledgment